A work-piece deflection management system including: (a) a first and a second vacuum chambers, each said vacuum chamber having an air-bearing seal circumscribing one of its sides, and (b) a work-piece plate; wherein the air-bearing seals are aligned to face one-another with the work-piece plate respectively there-between, allowing the work-piece to be laterally slid with respect to the air-bearing seals while maintaining a first predefined vacuum level within the first vacuum chamber and maintaining a second predefined vacuum level within the second vacuum chamber.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A work-piece deflection management system, comprising: a first and a second vacuum chamber, each said vacuum chamber including an air-bearing seal circumscribing its side parallel to a side of, a work-piece plate; wherein the air-bearing seals are aligned to face one-another with the work-piece plate respectively there-between, allowing the work-piece plate to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the air-bearing seals while maintaining a first predefined vacuum level within the first vacuum chamber and maintaining a second predefined vacuum level within the second vacuum chamber.
2. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein the work-piece plate includes at least one holder for rigidly griping said work-piece plate; thereby allowing precise lateral positioning of the work-piece plate.
3. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein the work-piece plate includes at least two holders for holding the work-piece plate respectively from at least two edges of said work-piece plate, to thereby reduce vibration in the work-piece plate.
4. The work-piece of claim 2 or 3 wherein at least one holder is located outside the first and second vacuum chambers.
5. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein each of the first vacuum chamber and the second vacuum chamber has an exterior that is substantially parallel to each other.
6. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein vacuum levels in the first and second vacuum chambers are similar.
7. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein vacuum levels in the first and second vacuum chambers differ from each other.
8. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein vacuum levels in the first and second vacuum chambers differ from each other whereas resultant forces created thereby are respectively negligible.
9. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 1 wherein the work-piece plate includes an opening configured to allow material to move from one of the first or second vacuum chambers to the other.
10. The work-piece deflection management system according claim 1 wherein the work-piece plate includes at least one thin material body section located between the first and second vacuum chambers, wherein any one of the thin material body sections are located so as to not contact the air-bearing seals.
11. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 10 wherein the thin material body section is transparent in a predetermined frequency to image and inspect there through.
12. A work-piece deflection management system, comprising: a) a work-piece, including a first-side, a body, and a second-side, wherein i) the first-side includes a closed contiguous region configured to interface with a first air-bearing seal, ii) the second-side includes a closed contiguous region configured to interface with a second air-bearing seal, and iii) the body of the work-piece configured to have rigid structural integrity is located between the first side and the second side; b) a first vacuum chamber, includes the first air-bearing seal circumscribing its side positioned on the first-side closed contiguous region of the work-piece, allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the first vacuum chamber; and c) a second vacuum chamber includes the second air-bearing seal circumscribing its side positioned on the second-side closed contiguous region of the work-piece, allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the second vacuum chamber.
13. A work-piece deflection management system, comprising: a) a work-piece configured to be rigid and planar is polished on both its upper side and its lower side, wherein the sides are parallel to each other and the work-piece is configured in a predetermined spatial orientation; b) a first vacuum chamber oriented with respect to the work-piece, includes a first air-bearing seal circumscribing its lower side, the first air-bearing seal is positioned on the upper side of the work-piece allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the first vacuum chamber; and c) a second vacuum chamber oriented with respect to the work-piece, includes a second air-bearing seal circumscribing its upper side, and the second air-bearing seal is positioned on the lower side of the work-piece allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the second vacuum chamber.
14. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 13 wherein the work-piece is substantially horizontally configured such that one side therefore faces upward and another side thereof faces downward.
15. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 13 wherein the polished upper and lower sides are substantially vertically configured such that one of the polished sides faces forward and another of the polished sides faces backward.
16. A work-piece deflection management system, comprising: a) a work-piece, having a first-side, a body, and a second-side, wherein i) the first-side includes a closed contiguous region configured to interface with a first air-bearing seal, ii) the second-side includes a closed contiguous region configured to interface with a second air-bearing seal, and iii) the body of the work-piece configured to have rigid structural integrity is located between the first side and the second side; b) a first vacuum chamber, wherein the first air-bearing seal circumscribes one of its sides, and the first air-bearing seal positioned on the first-side closed contiguous region of the work-piece, allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the first vacuum chamber; and c) a second vacuum chamber, wherein the second air-bearing seal circumscribes one of its sides and the first and second air-bearing seals have substantially identical shape and size, and the second air-bearing seal is positioned on the second-side closed contiguous region of the work-piece, allowing the work-piece to have an unrestricted lateral slide in all directions with respect to the second vacuum chamber.
17. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein the first and second air-bearing seals are configured to have similar shape and size, circular circumscribings, and parallel circumscribings to their respective work-piece sides.
18. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein vacuum levels in the first and second vacuum chambers are managed according to one of similar vacuum levels, different respective vacuum levels, and different vacuums levels wherein resultant forces created thereby are respectively negligible.
19. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein the first vacuum chamber is connected to the second vacuum chamber through an opening configured to allow fluid transfer between the first and the second vacuum chambers.
20. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein a vacuum level of the first chamber is different than a vacuum level in the second chamber.
21. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein the first-side of the work-piece is planar and the second-side of the work-piece is planar.
22. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein the first-side of the work-piece is parallel to the second-side of the work-piece.
23. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 16 wherein at least one of the first side and second side of the work-piece has a curved configuration to interface with its corresponding air-bearing seal.
24. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 23 wherein the curved configuration is concave.
25. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 23 wherein the curved configuration is convex.
26. The work-piece deflection management system according claim 16 further comprising a work-piece plate that includes at least one thin material body section located between the first and second vacuum chambers, wherein any one of the thin material body sections are located so as to not contact the air-bearing seals.
27. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 26 wherein the thin material body section is transparent in a predetermined frequency to image and inspect there through.
28. A work-piece deflection management system, comprising: (a) two vacuum chambers, each said chamber configured to have a first interface circumscribing one of its sides, and (b) a work-piece plate having a second interface circumscribing two of its sides; wherein the first interface of the first vacuum chamber is aligned to face the first interface of the second vacuum chamber with the work-piece plate and corresponding second interface respectively there-between, configured such that the work-piece plate laterally slides with respect to each vacuum chamber; and an air-bearing seal configured to reside between the first interface of each vacuum chamber and respective second interfaces of the work-piece plate wherein a portion of the first and second interface circumscribings describe a cross section, and the work-piece side adjacent thereto has a corresponding contour shaped to fit into the cross section that includes the air-bearing seal, such that the motion of the work-piece is restricted by fitting together of the cross section with the contour.
29. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein the portions of the first and second circumscribings are straight.
30. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein the portions of the first and second circumscribings are a curved.
31. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein the first and second air-bearing seals have substantially the same profile.
32. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein the first and second air-bearing seals have substantially the same average radius from their respective normal axes.
33. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein each of the vacuum chambers are configured to move laterally with respect to each other.
34. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein the first and second air-bearing seals are at least one of being similar to each other, having circular circumscribings, and having circumscribings oriented parallel to their respective work-piece sides.
35. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 28 wherein vacuum levels in the first and second vacuum chambers are managed according to one of similar vacuum levels, different respective vacuum levels, and different vacuums levels, wherein resultant forces created thereby are respectively negligible.
36. The work-piece deflection management system according claim 28 wherein the work-piece plate includes at least one thin material body section located between the first and second vacuum chambers, wherein any one of the thin material body sections are located so as to not contact the air-bearing seals.
37. The work-piece deflection management system according to claim 36 wherein the thin material body section is transparent in a predetermined frequency to image and inspect there through.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
July 30, 2002
August 23, 2005
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